Piper / December 2nd
I would be lying if I said I wasn't kind of jealous about Annabeth. She and Percy just seemed to easy with each other. It was nice to see her with a sparkle in her eyes though, something I hadn't seen until now.
"So! What's our plan now that we're here?" Annabeth asked as Percy smiled at me
"Well I want to check the highway and find the sign that says 'Topeka 32'" I said
Leo grabbed his Wii controller and spun it in a circle, causing the sails to lower themselves. "What are you trying to find?"
"Hold on, what in Hades is that?" Layton pointed to the controls. "Your humongous warship is controlled by a wii controller?"
"Yeah, what about it?" Leo replied casually
Layton sighed. "You do you"
I explained another vision I had seen in Katoptris - a man in purple with a glass of wine. But I had kept out that I had also seen me, Jason, and Percy drowning.
"Sounds kind of like Bacchus" Jason said
"The wine dude" Layton muttered. "We came here to find him?"
"I didn't come all the way to Kansas to see Mr. D" Percy added
"Bacchus isn't that bad, but I do know that his followers aren't so great" Jason replied. "The god himself is alright"
"Maybe he's better on the Roman side" Percy shrugged. "But what I don't get is why he's in Kansas. Didn't Zeus order the gods to cease contact with mortals?"
"They haven't been very good at following that" Frank pointed out. "No one seems to know what's happening with the Olympians. But there could be some pretty bad stuff out there"
"Well, sounds dangerous!" Leo summed up cheerfully. "I should go finish up repairs. Uh, Annabeth, I could use your help too. You're the only other person who kind of understands this stuff"
Annabeth turned to Percy and gave him an apologetic look. "He's right, I should help him out"
"I'll be back. Promise" He kissed her on the cheek
Like I said before, they were just so easy together that it made me a bit jealous. Of course, Jason was great and all, but he also acted kind of distant.
"I'll keep an eye out for Roman eagles. I'll just turn into a crow" Frank said
"A crow?" Leo asked. "Why not, like, a dragon"
"It's harder to turn into those kinds of animals" Frank answered
"I'll help out too. I can ride around on Arion" Hazel said
"That leaves three of you to find the wine god, I've got someone to find" Layton said
Frank gulped. "You don't mean... like..."
"I can't help it, but other than that, there's someone that can help us with our other problem" Layton replied
"I can't believe we're walking eight miles" Percy said
"We don't have cars but hitchhiking isn't going to do us any good" Jason said
"We've spent too much time in Gaea's territory. She may be resting for now but here minions aren't" I agreed
"I could call a friend for a ride" Jason shrugged
"Then let's see who's friend gets here first" Percy challenged
Jason whistled and Percy simply closed his eyes to concentrate. I didn't know what Percy was up to, but I knew that Jason was trying to summon Tempest.
Thunder crackled in the distance.
"He's coming" Jason said
"Then it looks like I win" Percy replied, pointing east, where a black winged shape was quickly closing distance on us
"is that... a black pegasus?" I asked
The pegasus landed and trotted over to Percy and nuzzled his face before turning to me and Jason, studying us.
"This is Blackjack" Percy said, "and this is Piper and Jason. They're friends"
Suddenly, air freezes and turned cold. Far away, a cyclone rapidly approached and touched down onto the road next to us, taking the form of a horse.
"Tempest" Jason grinned
"Nice ride" Percy complimented with an impressed look
"I met him at the Wolf House. He's a free spirit but every now and then, he'll help out" Jason explained
Percy climbed onto Blackjack while and Jason got onto Tempest, who raced down the road with Blackjack soaring overheard. In no time, we reached the thirty-two-mile marker which looked just as it had in my vision.
Our rides came to stop, neither looking pleased to have been stopped so abruptly.
"No wine dude in sight" Percy frowned
"Excuse me?" a voice that sounded as if it was in the fields called
The wheat parted, and the man I had seen in my vision stepped through. He wore a wide-brimmed hat that was covered in grapevines, a purple short-sleeved shirt and khaki shorts.
"The last person to call me 'the wine dude' begged for mercy" He said, but I could tell he was exaggerating. "It's either Bacchus, or Lord Bacchus. And if needed, I'm-sorry-for-calling-you-that Lord Bacchus"
"You definitely looked different" Percy studied the god. "Skinner... longer hair... and your shirt isn't so vibrant"
"What the blazes are you referring to? Who are you and where is Ceres?"
"Uh... what?" Percy asked
"Ceres, the goddess of agriculture" Jason cleared up. "Or Demeter for you"
"I believe I know you from somewhere" Bacchus told Jason
He nodded respectfully. "I helped you in Sonoma with the missing leopard"
"Ah yes, John Green"
"Jason Grace"
"Same thing. Why did Ceres send you?" Bacchus questioned
"We weren't sent by her" Jason cleared up. "Were you expecting her?"
"Why of course. I didn't come all this way to party. Ceres asked me here so we could have a council of war. Ever since Gaea has been attempting to rise, all the crops are withering and droughts are spreading. Even the karpoi are in revolt, and my grapes aren't safe. Ceres wants a united front in the Plant War" Bacchus explained
"The plant war?" Percy raised his eyebrow. "All of these little grapes are getting swords and rifles?"
Bacchus narrowed his eyes. "You seem familiar"
"I know you as Dionysus" Percy said, "but we just call you Mr. D at Camp Half-Blood"
Bacchus winced and for a moment, his image flickered and there was a different person standing there - fatter, dumpier, and in much louder clothing.
He returned to normal. "Stop making me think in Greek!"
"Lord Bacchus" I said. "Sorry for all the trouble, but we actually came here because we need your advice"
The god frowned. "Ah, some respect. Advise, eh? Avoid karaoke, theme parties, organic snacks and -"
"Not about parties" I interrupted. "But that is useful advice, don't get me wrong. But we actually needed some help on our quest"
"Not about parties..." Bacchus muttered
I explained our current situation with Majin Kai and our voyage to stop the giants from awakening Gaea, and how in four days from now, Rome would be massacred.
"I am afraid I have nothing for you, unless you want a drink. Though Jupiter has ordered me not to give wine to minors. As for the giants, I fought them so I know them well" Bacchus replied
"You can fight?" Percy said
Bacchus snarled and a five-foot staff covered in ivy and topped with a pinecone in his hands.
"Oh my, what a might weapon!" I complimented
"Indeed. Glad to see one of you has a brain. The pinecone is a tool of destruction used to strike fear into my enemies" Bacchus said, swinging his staff through the air. "I fought side by side with some other demigod... Harry Cheese, I believe"
"Heracles" Percy corrected
"Whatever. Point is, I killed the giants Ephilates and Otis. They got a mighty pinecone to the face" Bacchus said
"Those two wouldn't happen to be twins, would they, Lord Bacchus?" I asked
"Yes, that's right. They are twins" Bacchus confirmed
Twins snuff out the angel's breath
"You're a part of our quest, it's why were here" I said
"I'm sorry, but I'm no longer a demigod. I don't do quests" Bacchus shook his head
"But giants need to be killed by heroes and gods working together, and you're a god now. We have two giants we need to beat, the twins, I think... and they're waiting for us in Rome" I insisted and saying that made me realize something. "They're going to destroy the city along with the Majin. That silver goblet from my vision - it's a symbol of your help! You need to help us!"
"My girl, I don't have anything I need to do, and I only help those who give me proper tribute, which more has managed to do in many centuries" Bacchus said
"What kind of tribute?"
Layton
Egypt. Before coming to try and stop Xander, I hadn't returned to this place since the time of my death. Being here always made my abilities seem a lot weaker - which made me not so impressive with my limited powers right now.
On top of that, I always got an uneasy feeling here, as if fate would have its revenge and kill me like I get hired to. I also feared that I'll get pulled into another one of those strange pyramids
Rubrum and Caeruleum had transformed into their other dragon form, Asperox. This dragon looked mostly the same except its colors were revered - blue where red would be and vice versa - and it was four-legged instead of standing on two legs.
The dragon landed in Cairo, the capitol city of Egypt. I only knew the general location of where I would needed to search, because Instant Movement wasn't working yet. We landed away from people and I had to walk into the city with the two knowledge dragons on their usual shoulder.
"What a fancy place" Rubrum said. "I haven't been here in ages. Literally"
In the distance there two large pyramids that were directly proportioned to have the sun shining in between them, casting a bright glow onto the city. As soon as I stepped foot into the city, the light dimmed just a bit.
"Where am I suppose to start looking?" I asked
"Probably near wildlife or agriculture, all things considered" Caeruleum answered
I walked through some kind of market place where the civilians sold food and other items. It looked like your average flee market except less modern. Some sold old shoes with crazy designs on it and others sold exotic foods.
"You sir!" One of the sellers said, walking up to me and holding up my hand. "How much for the gloves?"
"My gloves?"
"Oh I know that metal when I see it" He replied
The man was short, maybe around Hazels' height, quite chubby and had a thick mustache. If I wasn't in Egypt, I would have thought he was Italian.
"Well then, how much?"
"I believe in your currency it would cost three hundred and twenty billion pounds" Rubrum said
"Ah! What fine specimen" The man pet Caeruleum who flinched and bit at his finger but missed
"What are you seeing?"
"Miniature and talking dragons, no?" He said. "My name is Escobar, perhaps we can help each other"
"You're a demigod?"
"Absolutely. My father is Mercury, the god of abundance and commercial success"
Now that I was really paying attention, the man had the largest part of the market between anyone and there were plenty of customers looking through his stuff.
"So how much for the gloves?" He asked again
"This one put a price on it," I pointed to Rubrum, "but there technically priceless"
"Oh, but there's plenty of Vibranium if you look in the right place" Escobar said
"The right place?"
"Why, a country that is impossible to find. Many have died or gone mad trying. But a powerful demigod as yourself might be able to find it, get in, and grab some of this metal" Escobar explained
"How do you know this?"
"One of my friends was successful in extracting this material through the brother of the king of the country" Escobar revealed. "They call the country Wakanda, and it's the most technologically advanced country in the world due to that very metal"
"Right. Nice history lesson and all, but I need to get moving" I said
"I can understand not wanting to give over the gloves for money, but I know you may be in need of something I posses" Escobar pointed to his beat-up truck
"And how would you know this?"
"Again, Mercury is also the god of commercial success. I tend to know what my customers want"
Escobar dug through his truck until he pulled out an old scroll that literally looked thousands of years old. Even the most delicate of force could rip the paper it was made from in half.
"I believe you might be looking for this" He handed the scroll and I opened it
I scanned over the page that was written in Ancient Greek. It detailed a complex technique that if used right, could be used to trap evil souls within an object.
"You're right..." I admitted. "What do you want for this?"
"Oh I'll consider the gloves payment" Escobar said
Funem Celer appeared in my hands and his eye's widened. "Or I could pay with your life"
"O-Oh, just take the scroll" Escobar stammered
As I walked way, Escobar muttered something about how Greeks always found a way around his sales and business tactics.
"That was oddly convenient" Rubrum stated
"I know, but I can't tell the others. I don't want to get their hopes up on something that might not work. Percy needs to learn that energy and that's why we need to find Ava" I said
"You couldn't have just asked for address?" Caeruleum pointed out
"Didn't think about it" I muttered
The dragons sighed.